Leave Out All The Rest
by CaitWinchesterConsultingNinja
Summary: Two and a half years after Ichigo broke up with him, Uryu is a recovering heroin addict, trying to fix his life and rebuild the broken relationships between himself and those around him. But, what happens when Ichigo returns saying he wants Uryu back?
1. Ichigo

I have never, don't and never will use heroin, so sorry if it's kinda vague. Anyway, I was going through a bit of a depressed period when I got the idea for this. I hope it's not too bad and that you enjoy it. I'm going to try to write more of this, but it might take a long time because of schoolwork and all that other shit. Anywho, enjoy!

_~K-chan_

_"Uryu, we need to talk." The words were cold and sad, not the usual more loving tone Ichigo used when talking to his black-haired classmate. His chocolate eyes were slightly darker than usual, also lacking any sparkle. Uryu looked up at the tan, orange-haired teen, "What is it, Ichigo? Is something wrong?" He said with a worried expression. A moment of silence, the words that followed like peircing, cold knives made of ice. _

_"Uryu..." Ichigo began, turning his gaze to the ground on his right, "I'm done. I can't do this anymore. We're over." He said, a fake strength in his voice. The cinnamon-skinned student didn't want to see the look on the paler teen's face. He already knew what look had taken over the other's usually calm features. Shock, terror, sadness, all mixing with desperation as Uryu fell to his knees, grabbing Ichigo's hand._

_"N-no... Y-you're kidding, right? This is all a joke... It's not actually happening..." Uryu said, his voice high with hysteria, his body shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. He looked up at the other teen, his saphire eyes wide and welling with tears, fear clear in the deep blue oceans of his irises. The orange-haired male pulled his hand out of the grasp of the two thin, pale hands holding it and he turned his back to the bespectacled student._

_"I'm serious, Uryu." _

_Silence._

_"We're over." The words, sharper than any sword, stabbed through Uryu's chest, making his breath catch in his throat and the tears spill out of his eyes. His entire body was now still, he felt paralyzed. His saphire eyes forced to watch the other's back as he walked away, leaving the shattered teen alone. Uryu's body was numb except for the burning pain that spread from his chest throughout his limbs. _

He shot up in bed, clutching his pale, bare chest. Silvery moonlight filtering in through the window, filling the room with just enough light to see the outline of the furniture. Sweat beaded on his face, down his neck, and on his chest, his midnight colored hair stuck to his skin from the moisture. His breathing was heavy and his chest burned with pain. Even after two and a half years, Uryu still had nightmares of that day, it's events playing over and over in his mind. Uryu's navy eyes shut tightly as he rested his elbows on his legs, his palms on his forehead with his long fingers in his dark hair. The pain was back again. He opened his eyes and looked at his arms, the small scars from needles visible on the smooth skin. For a moment, the memory of how the heroin had made him feel, and the accompanying urge to do it again coursed through his body. The black-haired man snapped his eyes shut again, shaking his head, trying to forget the urge. He was shaking again, not from fear, but instead, from anger. A glass that had been on the nightstand next to him shattered as he threw it at the opposite wall, his teeth clenched together. After a few moments of calming down, he felt droplets running down his cheeks. Though the same thing happened every night, crying still felt completely foreign to him. The black-haired man turned to the small table at his bedside, picking up his glasses and putting them on, then looking at the glowing red digital clock.

_3:56 A.M... _He thought with a sigh. He didn't have to get up until 8:30, then he'd get ready for work. He worked from 9 to about 7:30, depending on the day. His job was simple, he worked at a book store, mostly just stocking shelves and doing odd jobs around the shop. From there, he went to his second job. He only worked from 8 to 9 at an autoshop, doing some cleaning around the garage and helping with some of the mechanics.

_Four hours... _Uryu thought, _If I try to sleep... I'll wake up like this again..._ His eyes shut and a few more salty tears were squeezed from his eyes. The light faded, clouds drifting in front of the moon, and he pushed his glasses up, folding the sheets back and getting out of the bed. When his bare feet felt the cool hard wood floors, it sent a chill up his legs and back, and he realized that it was indeed cold in his room. Being dressed in only boxers made the room feel even more like ice than it was, causing goosebumbs to raise on his pale skin. He walked over to his dresser, getting out flannel pants and a flannel shirt. As he put on the shirt, he looked over at the mirror and a flashback from his time with Ichigo played in his head.

_"Hey, Uryu, you're cold." Ichigo chuckled as he watched the bespectacled teen snuggle closer, pulling the sheets up higher and trying to get as close to the warm tan skin of his boyfriend. The two teens were in just their boxers, under the sheets of Ichigo's bed on a cold December day. Uryu's saphire eyes met the chocolate ones of the orange haired student and he shivered. A chuckle rose in Ichigo's throat and he got out of the warm twin sized bed, walking over to the chest of drawers and pulling out a set of flannel pajamas. The cinnamon-skinned teen pulled on the pajama pants, then motioned for his classmate to come over to him. The black-haired male got up, shivering and walked over to his boyfriend, wrapping his thin, pale arms around the other's darker waist, trying to get warm. Ichigo draped the shirt over Uryu's back then had the other male put his arms in the sleeves of the shirt, then began to button the small clear fasteners of the shirt on his friend. The paler teen watched as Ichigo's tan fingers quickly fastened every button on the shirt, his navy eyes watching the other's hands and then shifting up to see his classmate's face drawing closer and closer to his own. Soon, their lips met and Ichigo instantly deepened the kiss, his arms snaking around the thinner male's waist, pulling him closer. As they drew apart, Uryu smiled softly and the brown eyed man said,"Any warmer?" The man with the midnight colored hair chuckled, saying, "Much better," with a smile. The two shared another kiss, which led to another, which brought them to the bed. They lay there, in eachother's arms, sharing kisses and tangling their legs together. And then, Ichigo looked into the dark eyes of his boyfriend and whispered..._

Uryu shook his head, forming fists with his hands, one slamming down loudly on the hard wood of the dresser. His breathing was heavy and he was feeling the searing pain in his chest grow larger. A moment passed and he pulled on the pants, walking out to the living room and turning on the tv while passing to the kitchen for some food, taking note that the garbage was full and needed to be taken out.

_Why now? Why do I have to remember all this now... It all just makes me want to... _He opened the door to the main hallway and walked down to the dumpster with a bag of trash. As he threw the bag into the large metal container, he saw something on the ground. A syringe. The urge to pick it up and put it to use came over him like a tidal wave, crashing down around him. He managed to resist it though, he walked back to the apartment, feeling a small, cold, wet drop on his nose. Looking up, he saw a few white flakes falling from the sky.

_Snow? It's November... _He thought as he held out his hands to catch the flakes.

The next three and a half hours passed quickly, and then he got ready for work. When he looked out the window, he noticed that it hadn't just been a small snow shower, it had coated everything in a blanket of white. As he headed out of the house for work, he grabbed an umbrella. Walking to the bookstore at which he worked was a peacefull time for him, and when he got there, the owner had already made some hot coffee for the employees. The owner was a very nice woman, she actually cared about her employees and her shop. After getting some coffee, he walked into the back room, checking the new shipment of books and then stocking them on the shelves. It was busy today, by 10:15 they'd already had about 30 customers, which for a small locally own bookstore was indeed good. His lunch break quickly approached and he ate alone. Upon returning to the store, he was asked to man the check out and he did so. The rest of the day flew by, nothing very eventfull happening untill about 7:20, when out of the corner of his eye, Uryu saw a tan man with bright orange hair walk past the shop. Saphire eyes widened behind thin rectangular glasses at the sight of the man walking past the window.

_No way... No, it's not him, it can't be... _Uryu thought to himself, trying to stop the memories of Ichigo from coming back. The man vanished out of sight as he turned the corner and the pale man sighed in reliefe. But the thought that the one who had shattered his life was back was still in his mind, always pushing itself into his thoughts. The black-haired male left for the garage after locking up the shop. It had started snowing again, covering the filthy world with a pure white blanket. He trudged through the unplowed parkinglot of the autoshop, finally getting to the door and walking in. He found that all but a few of the mechanics had already left for home, fearing that the weather would effect their commute. Shedding his jacket and scarf, Uryu made his way over to a coworker who was working on the engine of a large silver truck.

"Hey, you need any help with that?" The bespectacle man asked as he rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt. The muscular man working on the truck looked up and nodded. The two got along well, they almost never argued and they worked well together. They finished making the needed repairs on the vehicle in about half an hour and when they closed the hood of the truck, the mechanic turned to his coworker, wiping his hands on a rag.

"Well, that's really the last thing that needed to be worked on today. I'm gonna get goin'. You should head home as well, before the weather gets too bad." The short brunette man said as he stode towards the door, grabbing his jacket and hat, and putting both on. Uryu nodded, pulling on his jacket and wrapping the long scarf around his neck. The workers said their goodbyes and went their seperate ways, Uryu walking home as the other man drove back to his family. It was a very cold night, the last friday in November and the snow was falling steadilly. As he walked back to his apartment, he recalled the many nights, nights just like this one, he'd spent out on the streets, too drugged up to care if he froze to death. He'd spent his worst nights out on the streets he now walked, nights where all he did was shoot heroin into his veins to counter the unbelieveable pain he suffered from. His gaze shifted from the snowy ground to what was infront of him. Underneath a street light stood a man, not recognizable from the current distance, but as he continued towards the mysterious man, his saphire eyes focused on the his bright orange hair, his tan skin, and the same chocolate eyes that Uryu knew to be Ichigo's. Eyes growing wider behind his silver glasses as he drew nearer the man standing in the yellowish light.

"...Hello... Uryu," the voice from his nightmares, the same voice from all the memories rang clearly through the silence of the snowy winter night, stopping the black-haired man dead in his tracks. He blinked, his navy eyes still wide and fixed on the familiar male standing before him.

"N-no..." He whispered, pausing for a moment, then choking out the name that had haunted him for so long.

"I-Ichigo..."

Ichigo smiled the same smile from before and he walked over to the frozen midnight-haired male. Something inside Uryu snapped and he looked away, saying quietly, "Stop... Don't come any closer. J-just leave me alone." He quickly started walking, almost running from the other man. He didn't want to see him again. Though it was true that the feelings from their earlier years never left the thin, pale man's heart, he didn't want to see Ichigo ever again. Ichigo, however, followed him, chasing him back to the apartment.

"Hey, I want to talk to you." HIs former lover yelled out.

"Stop following me, Ichigo. I don't ever want to see you again." Uryu snapped back, he could feel dropletts on his cheeks, not from melting snow, but tears. His fists clenched as he reached the main door. The brown-eyed man yelled to him, "Uryu, stop, I just want to talk to you!" and he reached a tan hand out to grab the other's thin shoulder. In a moment, crying saphire eyes met the gaze of determined chocolate ones, and Uryu grabbed his own black hair.

"Just go away! Please! I don't want to see you again!" He yelled between muffled sobs and he fell to his knees, hiding his face with his arms, continuing, "Please... Just leave me alone..." There he sat, in the middle of the cold silence of a winter night, on his knees, crying, broken once again by the one who was supposed to complete him. Ichigo let his hand fall to his side, realizing that it was going to take a lot of work to get his former boyfriend to trust him again. He looked at the crying man and then drew closer to him, gently wrapping his arms around the other male and lifting him up off the cold, hard ground.

"Let's get you inside... You'll catch a cold if you stay out here..." The tan man said softly, his voice warm and caring as he carried the man with the gem-like eyes to the apartment, getting him safely inside the warm house, closing the door after and making his way to the bedroom. He layed down with the broken man, comforting him, trying to silence his tears and lull him to sleep.

_I'll have to tell him tomorrow... But for now, it's best to let him sleep..._ Ichigo thought as he gently kissed the pale forehead of the sleeping male, then got up and changed the other into his pajamas and climbed back under the covers with Uryu.

_It'd been three days since the breakup and Uryu wasn't handling it well at all. He felt nothing but a burning pain in his chest, and he would do anything to make it stop. It was late that night, around maybe 11 and he was wandering the streets aimlessly, searching for something to ease his pain. That's when he first tried heroin. He wasn't sure at first, but he was so desperate to forget that he didn't care anymore and he took that needle, pushed it into his arm, and injected the drug into his blood. His saphire eyes widened then his lids slid halfway shut as the heroin coursed through his veins. His mind began to feel hazy and he let his head roll back slightly, his black hair falling back. His body went numb for a few moments and the pain was gone. _

His eyes fluttered open as the gray light of a cloudy winter's morning filled the room. He felt warm, unusally warm. As he looked behind him, he saw a full head of bright orange hair that slightly hung down into the now closed chocolate brown eyes of his previous lover. For a short moment, Uryu felt like he had before his life was shattered in to a million pieces. He felt good, safe, normal, and then all the memories of the last two and a half years came flooding back. His saphire eyes widened and he jolted up, tearing away from the other man that lay in his bed. The pale skinned man sat on the edge of the small bed, elbows on his knees and palms over his eyes.

_This isn't happening... He's not really here, he can't be..._ He thought, his mind racing. A quick glance to the side proved that it actually was happening, that Ichigo was actually there, in Uryu's bed. He muttered a swear and turned his gaze to the wood floor.

_What do I do now? I'm so confused. I don't want him to be here, he'll just end up hurting me again. But at the same time, I don't want him to leave me right now... I like having him be here. Ugh, I'm so confused..._ The bespectacled man thought. He didn't know what to do. As he began to stand up, he felt fingers wrap around his wrist, holding him back. A whispered "Wait... Stay here for a second. I have to talk to you," came from the cinnamon-skinned man laying in the bed. Uryu turned his head slightly, his face was still hidden from his ex.

"What is there to talk about?" He said softly, sadly. The bed shifted and he felt Ichigo's body move closer to his own.

"There's a lot I want to talk to you about. First off, I feel I owe you an explaination... for what I did two and a half years ago." The orange-haired man began, "I know you probably don't want to hear about it, but I need to tell you. My father and sisters were starting to act a bit... different around me. I noticed it early and was trying to just ignore it, but then, one day, Yuzu and Karin asked me a question. Two days later my dad asked me the same question."

"What was it that they asked you?"

"They asked me, 'Are you gay?' At the time, I didn't know what to do. I didn't want them to see me any differently than they did, and I lied to them, telling them, 'No, I'm not gay.' I was scared. I didn't want to tell them. I was afraid of what they'd think of me." Ichigo explained in a hushed voice. As he listened to the reason for the life-shattering break up, Uryu only became enraged. His life had been torn apart because Ichigo didn't have the balls to tell his family he was gay. He spun around, eyes furious and fixed on Ichigo's.

"So you're telling me that my entire life was destroyed because you didn't have the guts to tell your family about your sexuality? Are you fuckin kidding me? Do you know what I've been through the last two and a half years?" Uryu yelled, his saphire eyes starting to well with tears of frustration. "My life has been a living hell and it's all because you were afraid your family wouldn't accept you for who you are? They're your _family_, they'll accept you no matter what!" Ichigo knew he had to do something to calm down the other male, but he didn't know what. He knew that words wouldn't help any, what else could he do?

"After you left, my life fell apart! I couldn't find anything that'd stop the pain, untill I started doing heroin! My grades plummeted after that and then my father kicked me out! I spent one and a half years in rehab, and I'm still reminded _every day_ of my God damn stupidity! Nothing will ever erase what I've done, what you've made me do! There's no way to get rid of these damn scars!" He continued yelling as he held his arms out, the small scars showing lighter than the rest of his pale skin. Ichigo reached out, his strong hands grasping the thin man's upper arms and drawing him closer.

"Ichigo, because of you, my entire life went to h-" Uryu was cut off by the other man's soft lips that were now pressing against his own. He tried to pull away, but the effort was useless, Ichigo was stronger than he was. Tears streamed down the bespectacled man's cheeks, as the kiss continued his efforts to resist became less and less, by the end, he had given up. The two pulled away, and the saphire-eyed male looked into the chocolate brown eyes of the man before him.

"If you think you can just come back into my life and have me back, you're mistaken... If you want to be back in my life, you have to help me, never hurt me again. You need to help me rebuild the bonds that you made me break. And make sure that when I do die, there are reasons for people to miss me. I'm not saying that I trust you, I don't. I don't trust you at all. There's always going to be a hint of doubt because of what you put me through." Uryu said as he pulled away from the other man, finally able to break the other's grip on his arms. Icihgo smiled softly, and whispered, "Okay. I can live with that."

* * *

Hope you liked it, Chapter two will be posted as soon as possible, (even though that might mean late next month v.v,,) Thanks for reading!

~K-chan Nishikawa


	2. Orihime

_"Uryu, is something the matter?" A red-headed girl asked the seemingly emotionless teen. His eyes were blank and dark behind his thin glasses. As he looked up at her, the circles beneath his eyes became even more visible. Orihime was a bit of a ditz, but when something was bothering one of her friends, she could tell and she'd try to help them as much as she could. She sensed something wrong with Uryu, and wanted to try her best to do something about it. The bespectacled male looked at her with lifeless eyes and he muttered, "It's nothing Inoue-san..." With out another word, he pushed out his chair and got up, leaving the classroom. The sometimes clueless girl followed him out of the class, the only student noticing her absence a few moments later was Tatsuki. As Orihime followed the depressed boy, she couldn't help but worry about him. He hadn't slept in days and he wasn't doing as well in class as usual. Soon after beginning to follow the sapphire-eyed teen, the red-haired girl took a wrong turn somewhere and lost him. She didn't see him for three days after. Orihime had begun to become very concerned about her friend, so she went to search for him. Starting by visiting his house, but when he wasn't there, she went to search every back alley, every abandoned building, until she found the one the broken male was in. He sat there in the shadows, his pale skin was even paler than usual, his thin arms and legs were sprawled out on the floor, and his head hung forward. Raven hair hid his face, his eyes held a distant look as he stared at the cold ground. As the brown-eyed girl ran towards him, she noticed objects scattered about along with something shining next to him, not realizing what it was until she was already at his side. Orihime knelt down beside him, worry painted on her usually bright face. _

_"Uryu, what are you doing he-"she was cut off by his stone-cold gaze. Though cold, his eyes also held a far-off look, and what, to Orihime, looked like resentment. She stumbled back slightly, surprised by the icy glare. The redhead averted her gaze, her eyes coming to rest on the shining metal and plastic object next to the grey fabric of Uryu's filthy school uniform. As the object registered in her mind, her eyes shifted to his arms. Small, almost circular healing and fresh wounds marred the pale skin of his inner arm. Her mind began to put two and two together and she realized what was going on. Her friend was addicted to heroin. Knowing what was causing Uryu's strange behavior made her wish she hadn't found out. The only question that she could form in her mind was "_Why?_" As she tried to ask, the single-word question got stuck in her throat, but she was able to choke it out. _

"_W-Why?" She asked. His only reply was a whisper, barely audible._

"_It hurts less… this way…" the bespectacled teen clutched his own shirt as he whispered._

_She wanted to understand what it was that was causing her friend so much pain that it'd drive him to drugs, but when she opened her mouth to question what was causing his pain, he looked at her and said, "Get away from me. Don't even try to understand this. I don't need to hear your bitching, so just go away, you stupid, whiny bitch."_

_Wide-eyed and on the verge of tears at the words that came from the bespectacled teen, Orihime stood and ran, she ran as fast as her legs would carry her, away from her friend. After that day, she didn't see Uryu again. Even if he were physically in class or walked by her, she refused to look at him. Not out of anger or hate, but out of sadness at the loss of her friend, her REAL friend, not the empty, lifeless teen who masqueraded around as though everything were fine and that he were still the same as before. _

It was Sunday morning and the sun shone through the curtained windows brightly, illuminating the bedroom. Uryu was already awake, he just layed in his bed, thinking. Ichigo was sleeping on the couch in the living room. He was still sound asleep, an arm hanging off the edge of the couch and a leg slung over the back of the sofa. The midnight haired man stood with a sigh and he pulled on a pair of flannel pants and a comfortable long sleeve shirt. As he picked up his thin, silver rimmed glasses, he glanced out the window. Snow coated everything and the sun's rays were being reflected every which way by the frozen molecules. The sapphire-eyed male placed his glasses where they belonged on his face and he looked around at his light room. A creak rang from the doorframe of the entryway to the room and Uryu turned his gaze to the orange-haired man standing there.

"Good morning, Uryu." Ichigo said as he scratched his stomach, and then yawned.

"Morning." Uryu replied, his voice sounding just slightly colder than it used to. He still didn't want to have Ichigo living with him now. He'd spent all day Saturday protesting to the idea, but in the end, the cinnamon-skinned male was victorious. His sapphire eyes caught the slight look of concern now painted on Ichigo's face.

"What's that look for?" Uryu asked, as he started to walk to the door. As he drew closer, the chocolate eyes looked right at him, their accompanying voice saying, "You look pale… Well, paler than usual," a hand reached up to cup the other male's cheek. His cinnamon skin contrasted greatly with the porcelain hue of the other's flesh.

"It's the lighting. Plus, you haven't been here for 2 and a half years, so you can't really say I look 'paler than usual' because you haven't seen the 'usual' me, now have you?" Sarcasm dripped from each word as the bespectacled man spoke. He turned his head slightly, so he was able to try to bite Ichigo's palm to get the warm hand off his face, which he successfully managed to do. As the orange-haired male pulled back his hand, he watched Uryu's thin frame make its way down the hallway to the kitchen. Uryu shook his head slightly and sighed, thinking to himself, _"Well, since he's here, I guess today would be a good day to start…"_ He'd made it to the counter, where the coffee was already brewing in the machine and he leaned against it, his palms pushed flat on the smooth surface, his head bent forward as if he were examining the countertop.

_"I'm… kinda scared of this whole thing though… I don't… I don't want to see their faces when I'm the one who shows up on their doorsteps… I don't want them to look at me the same way they did when I was…" _His midnight eyes held a sorrowful, scared look, his face showed signs of worry, and his hands were now balled into fists atop the counter. A hand gently touched his back, and Uryu looked to the right to see chocolate eyes gazing at him.

"Uryu, I know you're scared, but it's something that you want to do, isn't it? I never knew you as someone who would put aside a goal because of fear. You'll be okay. It may not be easy, but you want to rebuild those relationships, don't you?" Ichigo said softly to the man leaning over the counter. His black hair moved freely as he nodded in response.

"So, today, let's start with Orihime." The cinnamon-skinned man whispered as he moved his hand from Uryu's back to his shoulder and pulled him closer, into an almost warm embrace.

"Alright…" was the weak reply from the sapphire-eyed male, "Do you want some coffee?"

"Go sit down, okay? I'll take care of this." Ichigo said with a smile on his lips as he watched the other man walk over to the small dining table and sit down in a wooden chair. Uryu watched the orange-haired male fix their coffees, "Ichigo, do you know where Orihime is now?" he inquired. His former lover looked back and shook his head, "No, but I know how to find out." The two fixed their breakfasts and then got ready. The morning passed quickly and almost in complete silence, a few words exchanged here and there. Once both were ready to leave, they locked up the apartment and climbed into Ichigo's car. (A/N He'd parked there before he went walking to find Uryu.)

"Ichigo, where exactly are we going?" Uryu questioned, his midnight eyes were staring through the glass of the car window at the snow covered yard.

"We're going to see Tatsuki. I kept in touch with her, so I figure we should start our search for Orihime with her." The tan-skinned man said as he backed out and began to drive. The sapphire-eyed male nodded, "Alright." The drive was short and took only about ten minutes. As they pulled into the driveway, something didn't feel right. An uneasy feeling grew in Ichigo's stomach, it'd been a while since he last spoke with Tatsuki, but nothing could have changed a lot in the short time they hadn't spoken, right? He ignored the feeling and got out of the driver's seat. Snow was falling as the two walked up to the door and knocked. A woman with short, jet-black hair answered the door, she still looked the same from high school, but there was one major difference… her eyes. The grey-brown eyes that had once burned with flames to protect were now cold and icy.

"Hey, Tatsuki, how are you?" Ichigo said with a slightly forced smile.

"I'm… alright," She replied, "Come on in." She moved and motioned for the two men at her doorway to enter the house. As they entered, the orange-haired male said, "It's been a while since we talked. I see you haven't been just sitting on your ass since graduation." She closed the door and sat down on the futon.

"So, you know where Orihime is?" The question seemed like an innocent one, but it was asked by those not knowing what had happened.

"O-Orihime…" tears began to form in Tatsuki's eyes and she became chocked up, her words coming out in small bursts, "Orihime… Orihime passed a-away… two months ago." Her hands were balled into fists in her lap. Tears streaked her face, and she broke down, her fists and forehead met as she hunched over, her elbows now resting on her thighs. Chocolate and navy eyes widened in shock as they gazed upon the weeping woman.

"_No… no… shit!" _Uryu thought to himself. Ichigo looked apologetic, walking over to his childhood friend, he extended a hand and placed it on her back.

"Tatsuki… I'm sorry… I… I didn't know." He said as he rubbed her back, trying to comfort her. Suddenly, Uryu fell to the floor, first to his knees, then to the side, his raven hair covering his eyes.

"_Get away from me. Don't even try to understand this. I don't need to hear your bitching, so just go away, you stupid, whiny bitch._

_Stupid… whiny… bitch…"_

The last words he'd said to her burned in his mind and made his stomach turn. The last words he'd ever spoken to her had been the words that made her cry, that made her run away, and never speak to him again. The searing pain in his chest was back, but it was different, it was a more regretful flame than a flame of hatred and betrayal. Uryu lay there on the floor, regretting his words for what seemed like hours. He eventually drifted in to a nightmarish memory of his last encounter with Orihime. The look on her face, terror, pain, confusion, sadness, was forever burned in his memory. He woke with a scream when a new emotion crossed the deceased girl's face and three words that were so foreign to her were the ones she muttered.

"_I hate you."_

Both Tatsuki and Ichigo looked at him, frightened. Ichigo asked, "Uryu, what's wrong?" but the man with the midnight eyes shook his head muttering, "It's nothing… It was just… another nightmare…" A moment of silence followed, only broken by Uryu's voice.

"She wouldn't have forgiven me…" he whispered. "Even if she were still here, she wouldn't have forgiven me for what I did…"

"Uryu, what the hell are you talking about? Do you really think that Orihime wouldn't have forgiven you? She was the type of person who never held a grudge, she would have forgiven you." The chocolate-eyed man stated, walking over to help the pale man up off the floor.

"Orihime wasn't the kind of person who could hate someone, she couldn't even understand what hate was. She would have forgiven you." Tatsuki added, "You can go visit her, I'll give you the directions." With that, the black-haired woman walked into the kitchen and wrote down the directions to the cemetery at which Orihime was layed to rest. Uryu thanked her, bowing deeply, he said softly, "Thank you… Tatsuki… I'm sorry for everything I've done. I know we were never what anyone would consider 'friends' but you have no clue how much you're helping me right now. I'm very grateful… I'll get to say a proper goodbye to her now, and apologize for the terrible shit I've done. Thank you." As he stood, he looked her straight in the eyes, a silent, pure and sincere message of thanks was shared in the brief moment their eyes met and then the two men were off to visit Orihime's grave. The car doors slammed shut and the two men waved a final goodbye to the woman standing in the doorway.

"Ichigo…" The man with the sapphire eyes whispered as the car slowed to a stop at an intersection. The orange haired man looked over at the passenger, "Yes?"

"Thank you…" He muttered, "I feel like Orihime deserved a better friend than me. The last thing I said to her… was the worst thing I've ever said to her… The look on her face… oh God, It'll be burned into my memory for the rest of my life…" The car began to move and Uryu felt a warm hand on his leg.

"It's okay… She was glad to be your friend. I'm sure that before she died… you were on her mind… I'm sure that she forgave you long ago; she was just waiting for you to forgive yourself. Now, where am I going?" Ichigo said as he took his hand off of the pale man's leg.

"Hold on a sec." Uryu said as he rummaged through his pockets to find the directions Tatsuki had given them. Finally finding them, he looked up, "You're going to take a right here. Then the next left and follow that road until you see the cemetery." The orange-haired man nodded and followed the directions. Gem-like eyes looked over the small piece of paper carefully, and he found a note written on it.

_"Next to her headstone, there's a box. She told me before she died that there was something in there for you. I don't know what it is, but she sounded like she desperately wanted you to get it. ~Tatsuki"_

"Hm…" He said after reading the note. He looked up and noticed that the cemetery was drawing nearer. He put the paper back into his pocket and sat silently until they pulled into the parking lot. The two got out of the vehicle and walked past three rows of headstones, finally finding the one marked 'Inoue' and there, next to her brother's name, was her own. Ichigo stood quietly behind as Uryu knelt in the snow before the cold marble, one gloved hand placed on top of the smooth stone.

"Orihime… I'm sorry I'm late… and for what I've done… I never meant to hurt you… I didn't mean for those words to be my last words to you… Please, forgive me, somehow… for everything… " He whispered through tears, "I was going through a really… really hard time then… I know I was stupid… for doing what I did… but it seemed like the only way to stop the pain… but I'm better now… Orihime, I'm sorry…" He didn't know what else to say, he just wanted to repeat his apology over and over until he was sure it reached her, but he knew that it'd be impossible. He then remembered the note Tatsuki had written and his navy eyes searched for the box under the snow. As he pushed aside some of the pure white snow, he felt a solid object. Uryu dug the box out of the snow and carefully opened it. Inside was a letter and a picture, looking both ancient yet also new. Gently, the pale-skinned man picked up the carefully folded letter and he opened it, and began reading.

_"If you're reading this, it means I've passed away and can no longer talk to you face to face. I just wanted to say that I was never angry at you, I never hated you, and I never felt anything like that towards you, Uryu. I hope that one day soon, you can forgive yourself, because, I've already forgiven you. I never held a grudge against you. You're one of my friends and that means that no matter what, I'm gonna forgive you. Every action has a reason behind it. I don't really care what your reason was, but if it made you so sad that you turned to drugs, it must have been something important. You can always talk to me about anything. Even though I'm gone, doesn't mean I'm really GONE. I'm just in a different place. I'll still hear you if you want to talk to me. Don't be afraid to talk to me, I won't judge you. I'm always listening. You're my friend, and you always will be."_

Tears stained his cheeks and he gently refolded the letter, picking up the photo after the letter was tucked away safely in the inside pocket of his coat. The picture was one from high school. All of them, Chad, Rukia, Ichigo, Orihime and himself were all standing in front of the school, hanging off eachother, arms over the other's shoulders, all just acting like normal, carefree high school students, big goofy smiles graced Ichigo, Rukia, and Orihime's faces, Chad had a small smile on his face and even Uryu himself was smiling, glancing at the others from behind the same glasses he wore today. He lifted his gaze from the photograph and he looked at the sky.

"Orihime… Thank you… I hope that you're happy where you are… Thank you, again." His sapphire eyes closed as he stood up, then opened again to look once more at the headstone.

"Goodbye," Whispered the thin, raven haired man. Ichigo smiled softly as he walked up behind the man with the gem-like eyes and gently wrapped an arm around him, whispering, "Good job, Uryu… I'm proud of you." Uryu didn't swat away Ichigo's embrace, for the first time in a long time, he felt… good.

"Thank you… Ichigo," He whispered quietly into the snowy air.

* * *

Alright, so how was it? I'm sorry I took so long in posting it. I just wasn't really feelin this chapter, then, I got the idea to have her be dead when I was talking (ranting) to a friend about how I didn't want to write about her. Anyway, hopefully the next chapter will be up by the end of next month, though it may be later. I've got a very busy schedule coming up.  
3s for now!  
Thank you!  
3 K-chan 


	3. Chad

Okay, finally! Chapter 3 is here! I had a LOT of issues with this one, and though it is the longest, it is also the worst. You have been warned, this chapter is terrible. I'm so sorry for being so past my deadline and having the result be so terrible. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Thanks for reading, Please review!

* * *

Chapter 3: Chad

_It was a cold day; the chilly air of mid-autumn filled the rooms and the hallways of the school. Classes had already ended for the day and Uryu was at his locker, putting away his things. Almost all of the students had already cleared out of the teaching facilities that felt more like a prison to them. As the bespectacled teen put away the last of his books, he could hear footsteps echoing down the hallway, approaching him. When he looked up in the direction of the sound, he saw Chad. The tall dark-skinned male made his way over to Uryu, greeting him with a simple "Hello."_

_"Hey, Chad." He replied. The raven haired student didn't really want to deal with people right now, but it was Chad. The brown-haired teen looked at his classmate and then asked, "Is everything okay between you and Orihime… and you and Ichigo?" Chad didn't realize that he had just sent another icy dagger flying through the sapphire-eyed boy's chest. Uryu looked down at his locker, his hair hiding his now cold eyes. _

_"Everything is fine, Chad. I had an argument with Orihime, that's all." The Mexican-Japanese teen didn't buy that excuse at all, and he asked again, "Is everything really alright with you guys? It really doesn't seem like it is just an argument." Uryu was starting to get annoyed with the questions his friend was asking. They were bringing up things he didn't want to acknowledge. _

_"Would you just leave me alone? I really _don't _want to talk about it." He said in an irritated voice. The taller teen grabbed his friend's shoulder and turned him around to face himself. _

_"Uryu, what's wrong with you?" _

_"Nothing! God damn it! Why is everyone asking if there's something wrong with me! I'm fucking __**perfect**__, alright! Stop asking me what's wrong because NOTHING IS WRONG WITH ME!" Sapphire eyes were now burning with anger and he tried to break away from the other's grip, but it was useless. Chad noticed something out of the corner of his eye that made him question what it was he had seen. He grabbed the pale teen's wrist and turned the boy's inner arm towards himself, seeing the healing circular incisions that dotted the flesh. For a spilt second, shock took over Chad, and Uryu ripped his arm away, covering the marks with his other hand. _

_"Like I said, I'm fine." He muttered and walked away, leaving the larger teen behind. The dark skinned teen tried to offer Uryu help, telling him the names and locations of rehab centers, but his attempts were all in vain. He tried to stay friends with the black-haired teen, even after failing to help him, every time he would talk to him, Uryu would end up yelling at him and it eventually got to be more than he could handle. Their friendship just fell apart shortly after. _

That night, after returning to the apartment from the cold cemetery, Ichigo and Uryu shared a long conversation, both recalling memories of Orihime from high school, causing both laughter and saddened silences. It was 11 when they decided it would be wise to turn in for the night. Before climbing under the covers of his large bed, the raven-haired man placed the picture of them in high school on the nightstand next to him, then took out the letter from earlier that day and read it again. Tears clouded his eyes and began to spill over, running down his pale cheeks.

"Alright, Uryu, I'm gonna go get some sleep now. Good ni—" The cinnamon-skinned man said as he entered the room, only to stop talking when he noticed the tears flowing down his previous lover's face.

"Oh, Uryu…" He said quietly, the look on his face softening as he walked over and sat on the bed next to the crying male. A gentle tan hand was placed on the pale skin of Uryu's cheek, a thumb wiping away a tear as it fell.

"Why? Why did she have to die, Ichigo?" the sapphire-eyed man sobbed, his hands finding their way to the orange-haired male's chest and balling up the fabric of his light blue shirt. Ichigo wrapped his other arm around the black-haired man and pulled him onto his lap. He looked up at the crying male, "Shh, Uryu, shh. Relax," he said. Uryu's eyes opened, the gem-like orbs locking with the chocolate brown eyes of the orange-haired man.

"D-don't leave me alone tonight… Ichigo… Please…" he said through sobs that were barely being held back. Ichigo looked at the poor man before him and nodded, "Alright," before gently pulling the other's face in closer and kissing him. Uryu didn't resist, instead, he let the kiss happen at first, but then, he began to return the kiss. Ichigo pulled away slightly and gazed up at the other man, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Come on; let's try to get some sleep, okay?" He spoke softly to Uryu, who nodded and moved so he was able to lie on his side. Ichigo got up and pulled the covers over the black-haired male and then walked around the bed, climbing under the sheets with his previous lover and wrapping his arms around Uryu comfortingly.

"Shh… It's alright…" He said as he moved the raven hair and placed a kiss gently on the pale man's forehead. Uryu nodded, his sobs now muffled a little. The two stayed there, comforting and crying for the rest of the night.

When the morning light came filtering in to the bedroom, both men were asleep, Uryu still clung to the taller male, his arms wrapped around Ichigo's chest, face buried. Ichigo layed on his back, one arm around the black-haired man's shoulders and the other hand rested lightly on Uryu's arm. Chocolate eyes slowly fluttered open, dilated pupils constricting as the light flowed in from the window. Ichigo took a deep breath and looked down, only to see raven hair splayed across his chest. He smiled lightly, the realization that Uryu had let him sleep in the bedroom, in the actual bed with him made the orange-haired man smile. Then the single kiss from the night before settled itself in his mind. A smirk tugged at his lips and he closed his eyes. A light sleep took over him, but it didn't last long. He was awoken to a pillow to the face and Uryu saying, "What are you smirking about?" Opening one eye, Ichigo smiled and replied, "Oh nothing, just a very pleasant dream." The look on the raven-haired man's face, a slightly inquisitive pout, somewhat playful yet also questioning, made the tan male act on impulse, the impulse to claim the pink lips and to mark the beautiful pale skin, shouting to the world that this was the one he loved. Without warning, the cinnamon-skinned male flipped the other man over so he was lying on his back and hovered above him. Fear showed in Uryu's eyes and he began to tremble. Oh, how many times before he had been in this same position, trembling, but out of excitement, not fear. He swallowed hard, his gem-like eyes wide as he watched as Ichigo's face drew closer. He pushed his head as far down into the pillow as possible, trying to escape whatever the man with the chocolate eyes was going to do, but it was all in vain. Gently at first, Ichigo pressed his lips to the trembling ones of the pale man beneath him. Uryu could have sworn his heart stopped in that instant, but he relaxed and surrendered to the instinctual urge to return the kiss. Orange hair mixed with black as the two shared another kiss, their first real kiss since Ichigo had returned. The raven-haired man couldn't deny he liked it. It'd been way too long since he'd felt anything like this, anything this pleasing. Ichigo knew he had won when he felt the other man's soft lips open slightly, as if gasping for air. He took full advantage of this momentary opening and he let his tongue slip into Uryu's warm, cavernous mouth. The sapphire-eyed man lost all control now and let his tongue dance with the other man's. Chocolate eyes opened and gazed upon the man who used to be his lover, the same look still graced the pale man's features, the same one from back when they were happy together. Ichigo pulled away, reluctantly breaking the heated kiss, but moving on to attack the porcelain-colored skin of Uryu's neck. Small, muffled moans started to escape from the raven-haired male's mouth as Ichigo kissed, licked, and sucked on the soft skin. His sapphire-eyes were half-lidded, he could feel the bright orange hair against his neck, then a gentle, warm tongue tracing his collarbone. Sharp teeth lightly nibbled on the sensitive skin covering Uryu's clavicle and his eyes shot open.

"Ichi- Ichigo… Ichigo, st— " his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, finally, he was able to get out what he wanted to say.

"I-Ichigo, stop it," he said as he pushed the messy orange head of hair away from his neck. The cinnamon skinned man looked at the other confused.

"Ichigo, I… We can't do this right now… I still don't trust you." Uryu stated, his face hidden from the man who had just marked him, yet again. He picked up his glasses from the nightstand and put them on as he got up and re-buttoned his flannel shirt. The chocolate brown eyes that wanted him so much watched as he walked in to the bathroom. Ichigo sighed, his mind yelling at him, _"Damn… What the fuck was I thinking? I gotta take it as his pace. I can't hurt him again… but hell, he just looked so… No, stop thinking about it…"_ Uryu looked in the mirror as he slowly unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt. One side slid off his shoulder, revealing the fresh, bright red bite-mark on his collarbone.

_"Shit… Why didn't I push him away sooner? Damn it, what the hell was I thinking?" _He thought to himself. Then, a knock on the door rang through the bathroom.

"What is it?" He asked in a slightly cold voice. Ichigo stood outside the door, a look of remorse on his face, "Uryu, Hey, I'm sorry. I was wrong back there. I let my mind take a backseat and I acted on impulse… I didn't mean to upset you…" The door opened and there stood the pale-skinned man, shirt still hung off of one shoulder.

"It's fine. It's not a… big deal. Just a little mark… that's all. I can cover it up." He said, covering it with his hand. A rough, yet also soft cinnamon hand covered the pale one.

"Uryu, I really am sorry. I didn't mean to do that… not yet at least. Not until you trust me completely," He looked at the other's eyes and continued with a smile on his face, "I know, as a punishment for my impulsive actions, you can take a whack at me." The raven-haired man's lips twitched slightly as he raised his hand and slapped Ichigo across the face. His lips quickly found their way to the red spot left on the cinnamon cheek. A tan hand gently cupped the pale man's cheek and turned his head so their lips met. Uryu didn't mind the kisses, he liked it, and he wasn't about to stop it, but anything more than that he would stop. He was beginning to trust Ichigo again, but he still didn't trust him completely. When the two pulled apart, the cinnamon-skinned man smiled, and wrapped his arms around the thin man before him.

"Want to get something to eat?" he asked, holding back the urge to bite on the pale neck again. The sapphire-eyed man nodded, "Alright," and broke away from the warm embrace and made his way to the kitchen. Ichigo watched his back, his eyes however drifted to watch Uryu's ass as he walked. His intent staring was broken when the man he'd been watching turned and said, "What do you want to eat?" The orange-haired man thought for a second.

"Can I have French toast?" Ichigo asked sheepishly. Uryu looked in the fridge and made sure he has what was needed.

"Sure. How many do you want?" he asked, taking out the eggs, milk and bread. The chocolate-eyed male walked over and sat down, saying "4 please." The bespectacled man nodded and got out the needed pans and spatulas and bowls and plates and began to prepare their breakfast. Seven total pieces of French toast were made, four for Ichigo, and three for himself. After breakfast, the two sat there and just talked. Chocolate eyes kept there sights on the beautiful sapphire orbs of the other man sitting across from him. Uryu felt the intense gaze and it made him slightly uncomfortable. He looked at the eyes beneath the orange fringe of hair and asked bluntly, "Ichigo, why are you staring at me like that?" The tan male smiled and said, "I'm just amazed. You haven't changed very much since the last time I'd seen you. Your hair is still just as silky, your skin just as soft, and your eyes… your eyes are still that same beautiful, deep shade of blue that makes me feel as if you can see right through me. You're still as gorgeous as ever, Uryu." A warm blush rose on the pale cheeks that were framed by midnight-colored hair, and the sapphire eyes behind the silver rimmed glasses shifted their gaze nervously. Embarrassed, Uryu turned and stammered slightly, "W-we should go see someone e-else today. I don't want to p-put it off any longer," and with that, he got up from the table and cleared away the dishes, face still flushed with a heavy crimson. Ichigo smirked slightly, chuckling quietly to himself at his friend's somewhat childish reaction to the compliment. He rose from the chair, pushing it in as he made his way to the counter at which Uryu was standing, washing the dishes. Ichigo wrapped his arms around the thin midnight-haired man's waist, placing his chin over Uryu's left shoulder.

"Aw, I'm sorry, you just looked so cute. I was thinking out loud. Forgive me?" the orange haired man said in a cutesy-apologetic voice, pouting slightly. The bespectacled man rolled his eyes before glancing at the other man and mumbling "Whatever, just get off of me." The tan male smiled and brushed his lips gently across the other's cheek.

"Would you get **off** of me and go get ready to leave?" Ishida said, irritated and with slightly pink-tinted cheeks.

"Wait, where are we going?" A confused look graced the chocolate-eyed man's face. Trying to break free of the other's arms, the thin, pale man spoke, his voice full of annoyance.

"I need to go see my boss and tell her I'm gonna be out for a while. After that, I thought we could maybe visit Chad." He calmed as he spoke, his voice becoming serious. Chocolate eyes softened behind an orange fringe of hair, the cinnamon-colored arms loosened around Uryu's thin, almost feminine waist.

"Alright." Ichigo said softly and before releasing the other man, gave him a small kiss on the cheek. As Uryu watched his new roommate walk away to get ready for the day, he couldn't help but think.

_"Ichigo. I'll never understand you. Are you trying to earn my trust back? Are you trying to fix me? Are you just trying to get me back?"_ A voice from deep within his heart made itself heard.

_"Either way… I'm glad you're here."_ After a moment of silence, slightly astounded that he was glad to have the one who had shattered him back in his life, he just shrugged and went to the bedroom to get ready. He could hear the water in the pipes for the shower, and he was patiently waiting for Ichigo to vacate the bathroom so he could also shower. The water stopped and Uryu gathered his towel and his clothes and waited by the door. When the door opened, there stood the orange-haired man, his cinnamon skin still damp, small droplets of water were rolling down his toned chest and abdomen, soaking into the towel wrapped around his waist. Midnight eyes widened behind the thin silver framed glasses, and then quickly shifted to the right, averting his gaze as his pale cheeks flushed lightly.

"Go put some clothes on, Ichigo. Choose something from the closet that'll fit. I'm sure there's something in there that you could wear." Uryu said quickly, his voice trying to steady itself. Something began to stir in his lower stomach, but he ignored it. The brown-eyed man noticed the soft blush that graced those pale cheeks and he smiled to himself, then shrugged and as he walked to the bedroom, said, "Thanks, Uryu." The man with the midnight-colored hair quickly rushed in to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

_"He did that on purpose, damn it. Stupid idiot coming out with just a towel around his waist…"_ He thought to himself as he started the water in the shower and quickly undressed and got in. The warm water that hit his porcelain colored skin and trickled down reminded him of fingertips softly tracing their way down his body. He shook his head and rested his forehead against the white tile of the shower. When his dark eyes closed briefly, an image of the half-naked Ichigo flashed in his mind and his eyes snapped open.

_"Stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it!"_ He mentally yelled at himself. This was frustrating the hell out of Uryu. Ichigo on the other hand was having quite a bit of fun raiding Ishida's closet, trying to find something to wear. Finally, he found a pair of dark-washed jeans, a plain tee-shirt and a button-down shirt. As he put on the clothes, he paused and noticed they had a very light, clean smell about them. It was very appealing to him, it reminded the chocolate-eyed man of their previous time together. Sighing softly, Ichigo pulled the tee-shirt on, his bright orange hair becoming even more disheveled as the collar of the shirt was pulled over his head. He messed with his hair for a moment, then noticed the water had been shut off. The tan man sat down on the bed after pulling on the button-down shirt, leaving it open though, and waited for Uryu to emerge from the bathroom. It wasn't until several minutes later that the bespectacled male did emerge from the washroom, wearing dark blue jeans, a white shirt with two thin light blue stripes from the shoulders to the wrists and on the left side of the shirt. Sapphire eyes shifted behind thin-rimmed glasses to lay their gaze on the brown-eyed man sitting on the bed, waiting for him.

"Ichigo, are you ready to go?" Uryu said slightly impatiently as he walked to the room to get a pair of socks.

"Yeah, I'm ready. All that's left is shoes and jackets." The bright-haired man said with a smile. As the raven-haired man pulled on his socks, the cinnamon-skinned male got up and went to put his shoes on at the doorway after putting his coat and scarf on. There, he quietly waited for his previous lover to finish getting ready. After adorning the dark coat and scarf, Uryu attempted to put his boots on, but failed miserably. Perhaps it was the fact that Ichigo was staring at him the whole time, or maybe he was just having one of those days. Whatever the reason, his boots just didn't want to go on. Ichigo chuckled lightly and knelt down, assisting the midnight-eyed man in putting on his boots. Uryu quickly looked away, embarrassed as hell, and his cheeks flushed red with color.

"_Of course this would happen today…"_ he thought angrily. Then another voice broke his thoughts.

"Better?" The orange-haired man asked as he gently interlaced his cinnamon-colored fingers with the other man's pale, thin fingers. The blush on the pale cheeks grew darker, and Ishida muttered something that sounded like, "Yeah, thanks…" Ichigo smiled softly and quickly gave his roommate a kiss on the cheek, only causing the color to darken another shade. The lights were all turned out and the two made their way to Ichigo's car, getting in and starting the heat as fast as possible. Ichigo had managed to get some vague directions to where Chad was working, all that he really knew was that it was a toy store in town somewhere. The car slowed to a stop in front of the bookshop at which Uryu worked. Ichigo put the car in park, and turned the vehicle off. The two men climbed out of the car, their shoes getting covered in snow. As they approached the entrance, sapphire eyes spotted a short woman with red-brown hair and glasses that seemed a bit too big for her face, running towards the front of store past several bookshelves.

"_Oh jeez…" _The black-haired man thought to himself. Sure enough, it was the owner running towards them. She burst through the door and ran out in to the cold air of winter, only to nearly tackle Uryu.

"Where have you been!" She practically sobbed in to his coat. Though slightly annoyed by his boss' sudden attack, he still smiled.

"Takamura-san, calm down, please." The bespectacled male said as he looked down at the woman who was still clinging to him.

"Uryu, we've been so busy! The other employees don't know jack-shit about anything! Please don't tell me you're quitting!" She said frantically. She was a very nice woman, just she was very dramatic.

"Takamura-san, relax. I'm not quitting." Uryu said as he pried himself away from her. He began to push her in to the store, he continued, "Now, let's get you inside before you catch a cold." Ichigo stood there for a moment and couldn't help but chuckle at the usually calm Uryu having such an eccentric boss.

_"How in the world does he deal with her every day?"_ He thought. The bespectacled man stood holding the door open and said impatiently, "Well, come on. Get you ass in here, Ichigo." The tan male smiled and walked in past the pale man who held the door open and then followed the other in, letting the door close behind him. The three walked to the back room and took a seat around the table that stood in there. The owner sat directly across from the two men, looking at the thinner of them intently.

"So, what's up, boys?" She said in an upbeat way.

"Takamura-san, I'm kinda gonna have to take some time off." Uryu began, his dark eyes fixed on tracing the grain of the wood of the table. The short woman looked at him in surprise, but asked, "Is it for something important?"

"Yes. It is. It's something that's very important." The raven haired man said looking up from the table to see her face, a look of curiosity bubbling up inside her. He knew what she'd ask next, and he just answered it before she asked.

"I did some things a while back that I'm really not proud of. I'm trying to fix things to how they were before I screwed up. I'll be back to work in no time though." A smile found its way to Uryu's lips as he looked at Ichigo after speaking. Though a sad smile, it was a smile none-the-less, and Takamura-san looked from one man to the other, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Alright, Uryu, you take as much time as you need. I'm going to have you on a paid vacation, so I'll send you your checks, but it's not going to be as much as usual." The woman with the large glasses said in a kind voice. The three got up from the table and Uryu gave her a small hug, thanking her for understanding, and then started to head for the door. Takamura-san looked at Ichigo, her brown eyes showing clear through her thick glasses.

"Take care of him. I know that you're pretty special to him, I can tell by how he looked at you. Help him do whatever it is he has to. I'm counting on you to keep my number one employee safe. Don't mess up."

"Yes, ma'am," Ichigo said as he raised his hand to his head in a mock salute, "I won't fail." A moment's pause as chocolate eyes looked back at the sapphire-eyed man.

"I'll keep him safe, no matter what." His voice was soft and caring, and the short reddish brown haired woman noticed this. Then, a quite painful smack on the arm followed by a, "Now get out of here and help him." Ichigo nodded and did as he was told, walking up to Uryu and then the two walked out of the store, Ichigo's tan hand holding on to Ishida's pale, thin, hand. The orange-haired man opened the car door for the dark-eyed male, who smiled at him and slid in to the seat of the car, the door closing after he was fully in the vehicle. The tall, cinnamon-skinned male walked around the front of the car and climbed in, starting the engine then buckling his seatbelt.

"How in the world do you put up with her everyday?" Ichigo asked as he pulled up to a stop light and waited for the green light to illuminate. Uryu looked at him and said "I don't know. I just do. Yeah, she's a bit… eccentric, but she's a nice woman. She gave me a job when no one else would." The chocolate-eyed man just nodded and began to look for a place to park the car so they could search for Chad's workplace. After finding a spot, the two got out and began their search. An hour passed and the search was… unsuccessful so far. The two men found them selves in a small alley, just off the main street. Leaning against the cold bricks of a large building, sapphire eyes closed and he sighed. Voices could be heard from down at the other end of the alley, but they were ignored.

"We're never gonna find him, Ichigo. We've searched every toy and children's shop in the town and we haven't found anything." Ishida sighed, defeated.

"We'll find him, I know we will." The cinnamon-skinned male replied, his eyes shifting to the small group of people walking towards them, eyeing one who seemed to be looking at the pale man standing against the wall as if he were familiar. In a hushed whisper, the orange-haired man asked, "Hey, Uryu… You know them?" The bespectacled male opened his eyes and looked at the approaching group. His eyes widened and he felt a surge of fear run through his entire body.

"Ichigo, we need to go, now. Don't ask questions; let's just get out of here." His voice was slightly higher, fear rang clear in his voice as he started to turn and walk away.

"Hey, you!"

_"Oh shit…"_ Uryu thought, freezing in his tracks and starting to shake. He was terrified and Ichigo sensed it. Chocolate brown eyes turned dark and watched cautiously as the three men approached them, his arm wrapping around the thin male's waist protectively.

"Hey, you, haven't seen ya in a while." The man in the middle said as he got ever closer, Ichigo's grip on Ishida tightening as he felt the other man begin to shake more violently.

"Ya still lookin' for some dope? I got it at a pretty fair price." The man had a bit of a scruffy look to him, like he hadn't really shaven in a few days, but he was still dressed in a fairly decent way. Uryu swallowed hard and tried to steady his voice as he spoke, "N-no, I'm a-all set…"

The cinnamon-skinned man glared at the dealer as he pulled his former lover closer still, his voice coming across clear and strong, "Back off. It's time we got going anyway." As the two started to walk away, the dealer, Takeo, spoke again.

"Where the fuck ya think ya goin'?" The two men who had stood on either side of the dark brown-haired man now blocked the opening of the alley. Ichigo and the terrified raven-haired man stopped and turned to face the dealer.

"Ya better not be buyin' from another dealer, pretty-boy." He said as he stepped closer to the shaking man, lifting his hand and reaching out to grab the pale man's chin, though he was stopped only 5 inches away by a tan hand around his wrist.

"That's a **very** bad idea." Ichigo growled as his now dark eyes glared threateningly at the dealer, who shifted his gaze to the man who was holding his wrist.

"Oh, yeah? Why? Ya tryin' to protect yer little boy friend here," A sudden punch to the lower stomach made Ichigo double over, "When ya can't even protect yerself." Uryu stood there frozen, too frightened to move, even though he wanted to help the orange-haired man who now knelt before him, he couldn't, the strength to move wasn't there. Takeo took a step towards the sapphire-eyed man, who's shaking had become visually noticeable and started to stumble back as the drug dealer drew ever closer.

"Well, what 'cha gonna do now? Yer boyfriend here ain't gonna protect ya now." The scruffy-looking man said, giving a terrified Uryu an evil look. Ichigo looked up from the ground, finally being able to catch his breath a bit, and reached his strong hand out and grabbed the dark brown-haired man's ankle.

"Touch him… and I swear… I will kill you," The kneeling man said, his eyes full of hatred and no hint of the threat being a joke, his voice strong and angry. Takeo looked down at him and began to laugh.

"Hachiro, Iwao, Take care of this little shit." The two men blocking the alley left their posts, Hachiro walking in front of Ichigo and Iwao wrapping his arms around the orange-haired man's and lifting him up. Hachiro chuckled evilly and began to punch the cinnamon-skinned male in the stomach, soon making him cough up blood. His teeth were clamped together, trying to hold back the blood and groans and gasps of pain. He was able to look over at his friend and yell, "Get out of here before you get hurt, Uryu!" Ishida couldn't more though; his legs wouldn't listen to him, though Takeo was in front of him. He stumbled back and crashed into some wooden boxes that were stacked against the wall, and he was frozen. Takeo grabbed the pale man's coat collar and scarf and formed a fist with his other hand, getting ready to thrust his fist into the glasses on the raven-haired male's face. Uryu closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, bracing for the hit. He heard a noise come from beside him that sounded like very large shoes gently crunch in the snow. When the feared punch didn't come, he opened his eyes to see a large arm in front of him, the huge hand attached to it wrapped around the short man's fist. Sapphire eyes followed the arm to the shoulder and then up the neck and to the face, widening when they laid their sights on the tall, Mexican-Japanese man.

"Ch-Chad?" Uryu stuttered. The tall, dark-skinned male looked back at him and nodded, then looked at the drug dealer.

"I suggest you get out of here now, and don't ever bother these two again," muttered Chad, who in one swift movement, pushed Takeo back into the other wall of the alley and then knocked out the two who were harassing Ichigo. Ichigo fell to the ground and stayed there, on his hands and knees, trying to catch his breath and get the blood out of his throat. Uryu ran over to him on unsteady legs, falling to his own knees as he neared the other's side.

"Ichigo, I-I'm sorry. I couldn't move… My legs wouldn't listen to my brain. Ichigo, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault," Uryu said frantically. Chad watched as Takeo got to his feet and took another look at him then ran off, clearly frightened.

"Ichigo… Uryu… Are you alright?" Chad mumbled. By now, Uryu had both arms around Ichigo's body, tears forming in his eyes, leaving wet spots on the other's jacket, mumbling apologies into the fabric. He looked up at Chad.

"How did you know where we were, and what was going on?" He questioned, his sapphire eyes curious but also apologetic. Chad pointed across the street.

"I saw you when I was working," was his simple reply. Both of the other men's jaws dropped. They looked at eachother and started laughing. Chad, who was very confused at this, asked, "What's so funny?" The two continued to laugh, until Ichigo began to cough again and blood dripped to the white snow. Uryu looked up at Chad again and said "We need to get him medical attention. I'll tell you after, but for now, he needs a doctor." The tallest of the three nodded and gingerly picked up the injured man and carried him back to the car. Uryu climbed in the driver's seat, with Ichigo and Chad in the back and quickly sped to the nearest medical office. As the doctors examined Ichigo, the pale man and the dark-skinned man sat in the waiting room, and Uryu began to explain why they had been laughing.

"We've spent all day looking for you, Chad. We checked any and every possible store in the city and then we get into trouble from my past and you show up. The person we'd been looking for the entire day." A moment of silence and then his voice came across soft and sad.

"Chad, we were looking for you so I could say something. So I could try to fix things. We came so I could apologize for how I was back in high school… I was going through a really hard time… and I didn't know how to deal with… losing—" He was interrupted.

"—Ichigo. I knew about you two." Chad said quietly, as he looked over at the raven-haired man who sat next to him.

"How did you know? Did Ichigo tell you?" Ishida questioned. Both he and Ichigo had sworn not to tell anyone about them being together, so how did the tallest and strongest of their friends know?

"Ichigo never told me. I figured it out on my own, and then asked him to see if it was true. You two may have tricked every one else, but I saw it. Maybe it was because I was close to Ichigo that I could see how different he was around you. But your reaction that day when I asked you if something was wrong between you and Orihime and Ichigo, I saw you get very angry when I said his name. That was further conformation. As for your reason for finding me today, it's alright, apology accepted. I hated what that stuff did to you, but you found the strength to get away from it, and that in itself is enough for me. You don't need to apologize for acting the way you did because it wasn't you acting that way, it was the heroin. So no more apologies." (A/N: Wow that really sucked. I'm sorry you guys, I can't write as Chad.) Uryu sat there, just looking at the other man. He let out a sigh of relief and whispered "Thank you, Chad… You're a much better friend than I deserve." He got up and stood before the Mexican-Japanese male and bowed deeply, "Thank you." As he stood up, a nurse came out and walked over to the two in the waiting room.

"Your friend will be fine. Luckily, he wasn't hit too hard, and should be fine in a few days. Just make sure he doesn't over do it. No heavy lifting, take it slow up stairs, no vigorous activities. The usual," She said. She seemed like a very cheerful person, the kind that even in the darkest of times would still be able to make others smile.

"He should be out in a few minutes. Have a nice day." She continued and then bowed and walked away. About 4 minutes later, Uryu and Chad heard a yell.

"Get off of me, will ya!" Chad looked at the floor, and Uryu's palm met his forehead.

_"Ichigo, you had better not be fuckin acting up…"_ Ishida thought. Through the double doors came Ichigo, in a wheelchair, being held down by about three people. As soon as he saw the gem-like sapphire eyes he loved so much, he got up and ran towards the man who those eyes belonged to. His tan arms wrapped around the pale man's thin waist and he buried his face in the raven-haired man's neck.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Uryu. I want to get home, I hate medical buildings." He mumbled. Ishida shook his head and just looked up at Chad.

"Time to go, I think. Can you give me your phone number, that way I can keep in touch with you?" The sapphire-eyed male asked the tallest of them as they all walked to the car. He nodded and wrote it down on their drive back to the shop that he worked at. As Chad climbed out of the vehicle, Uryu looked at him and again said "Chad, Thank you so much, not only for saving both Ichigo and I, but for being so forgiving. I'll keep in touch with you." The other man nodded and then shut the door after Ichigo climbed in the passenger's seat.

"How'd it go?" Ichigo asked, his voice holding notes of concern as he fastened his seat belt and the car started to move.

"It went very well. He knew the entire time. He knew why I did what I did… and he knew about us. He forgave me."

"I'm glad…" Ichigo said softly. The rest of the ride home was quiet and uneventful, other than Ichigo placing his hand on Uryu's thigh as he was driving, causing him to press on the gas a little. After parking and heading up stairs to the apartment, Ishida decided that it was time for bed, the day had completely worn him out. As he changed into his pajamas, Ichigo walked in and sat on the bed, just watching him. Finally, he asked the question.

"Can I sleep in here again tonight, Uryu?" The sapphire-eyed man paused, and put his shirt down on the soft comforter and thought. He looked at the orange-haired man and nodded, "I suppose so." He then put his shirt on and got under the covers, turning the light out as he did. In the darkness, Ichigo, too, climbed under the soft sheets and he snuggled up to his previous lover. In the bright moonlight, his pale skin seemed to glow and the chocolate-eyed man couldn't help but notice how beautiful the other man was. He gently placed a hand on the back of Uryu's neck and pulled him closer so their lips met. Right away, Ishida knew this kiss was different from the earlier ones. This one was sweet… sincere… and, as much as he didn't want to say it, loving.

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Thanks for reading, I hope it wasn't too too bad. Well, please review. Next chapter will be "Rukia", and hopefully on time, but I'm not setting a dead line. I will try to not take so long with this next one as I did with this one.

~K-chan Nishikawa


	4. Rukia and Renji

**FINALLY CHAPTER FOUR IS FINISHED! I'm SOOOOOO sorry for the huge delay. I had a r_eally really really_ hard time with this chapter... I hope that you haven't lost interest, and it's my sincerest wish that all of you who read this enjoy it. I love the feed back and reviews I'm getting, all of you who review, you're part of why I haven't given up on this! So, with out holding you up any longer, here you are, Chapter four of "Leave Out All The Rest", "Rukia and Renji"!**

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_Uryu sat in the classroom, alone, eating his lunch. This was the usual for him lately, well, ever since the mere mention of Ichigo Kurosaki's name sent him into a spiraling depression. He sat there, gazing out the window with lifeless eyes._

_"Hey, guys, where's Uryu?" the short, black-haired girl asked. Ichigo looked down at his lunch and shrugged, "Dunno." The red-haired girl beside him lowered her eyes, which now held a sorrowful look, and Chad gave her a knowing glance. Rukia looked at all three of them and instantly knew there was something they weren't telling her. _

_ "Alright, guys, what's up? What are you not telling me?" The steely eyed teen demanded. Orihime shifted her gaze to Rukia and said, "I'll tell you later. Now is not the time," her voice holding a fake happiness. She nodded and continued to eat her lunch. The rest of lunch break passed quickly and as the students were heading back to class, the redheaded teen fell back with Rukia walking beside her. She spoke quietly; making sure no one around them could hear her. _

_ "Uryu is going through a hard time right now… He's making the wrong choices to deal with his life. Chad and I know, but Ichigo doesn't." _

_ "What do you two know?" She questioned, "Why doesn't Ichigo know?"_

_ "Uryu isn't himself right now, and neither is Ichigo." She replied solemnly, "I think that Ichigo and Uryu are having a fight, but it must be something big, because they've never gone a few days with out making any kind of comment to eachother…"Orihime wanted to avoid telling Rukia all she knew, but she'd find out soon enough, so she thought it would be best to make it less of a surprise. _

_ "Uryu's destroying himself… Both Chad and I have tried to talk to him, but he doesn't listen. He keeps saying everything is fine… when it clearly isn't." The black-haired girl was confused by all of this, she didn't know what exactly was going on and she didn't like that. She didn't like that at all. _

_ "Orihime, what exactly is Uryu doing?" She said in a demanding tone as she stopped walking. She crossed her arms and waited for an answer. The brown-eyed girl sighed and turned to her. _

_ "Don't say anything to Ichigo, or anyone else… but Uryu's…" She took a deep breathe and looked at the grey eyed girl, "addicted to heroin." Even though Rukia wasn't exactly great friends, or even really friends at all with the raven-haired teen, she felt an unbelievably strong sense of rage surround her. She thought to herself, "_Why would he do this? What the hell would lead him to that?_" She wasn't close to him, but she knew he wasn't the kind of kid who'd do that type of stuff just for fun. Something must have caused it. She nodded and then quickly said, "Alright, we have to get back to class… We'll be late." The rest of the day passed with out incident, and soon, the group went their separate ways, heading home. As Rukia walked home, she decided she'd text Renji. It'd been a long time since they'd really talked and she was actually missing the pink-haired man quite a bit. She took out her phone and scrolled through her contacts, finding Renji's and selecting 'new message' from the options. The short girl typed in a quick message of "Hey, how have you been? How was your day?" Just as she got home, her cell phone buzzed, and she checked the message from her childhood friend. _

_ "Hey. Not much up here. The day was pretty boring, nothing really happened… actually, all my days lately have been that way… but your brother said to tell you hi for him. How was your day?"_

_ Rukia smiled, but then the thought popped into her mind, "_Wait… why is nii-san with Renji?_" but she quickly pushed that thought out of her mind. She punched in a reply, "Hi nii-san… My day was pretty shitty… drama, drama, drama, that's all school is. Found out something I would like to forget now…" Only after sending the message did Orihime's words echo in her mind 'Don't tell Ichigo, or anyone else.' _

_ "Oops… Well, it's Renji. It's not that big of a deal…" she said. It was pretty late in the evening and the steely-eyed girl had had a long day. She ran the bath water and sunk in, trying to forget about the stressful day, and accidentally fell asleep. About an hour later, she woke up, and got out. As she dried off and got into her pajamas, she looked at her phone. The screen lit up again, with writing across it saying "New Message: Renji" After dressing, she layed down on her bed and flipped open her phone. _

_ "What's up? You're actin' weird, Rukia. What happened?"_

_ "Uryu. He's bein' an idiot and destroying his life. Dunno what brought him to do this shit, but he's gotta stop it."_

_ "How's he destroyin' his life?" Rukia paused, she pondered briefly whether or not to tell him or not, but figured it was too late not to. _

_ "Heroin," was her one word reply. Renji was laying down on his own bed, Rukia's brother, Byakuya, sitting in the chair next to him, playing with the dark pink strands of hair that were splayed across the pillow. When Renji's phone rang and he read that one word, he shot up, nearly yelling "WHAT!" at his phone. Byakuya looked at him, "Renji, what's wrong?" _

_ "That fuckin' idiot, Uryu is doin' frikin heroin!" the tattooed man said angrily. _

_ "Renji… calm down," said the soft, but powerful voice of the older Kuchiki as he placed a hand on the other's shoulder. The maroon-eyed man took a deep breathe and texted back, "I'll be over tomorrow. We need to talk to him." Sure enough, when the next day came around, Renji showed up at Rukia's door and the two soon went in search of the bespectacled teen. Luckily, he was home, and the two were greeted by him instead of his father, who thankfully happened to be out. Before Uryu could say anything, Rukia gave him a good whack on the top of the head. _

_ "You IDIOT!" She yelled at him. He backed away from the door, trying to close it, but Renji held it open and he and Rukia walked in, only closing it after they were in the entryway. _

_ "What the hell are you thinking? Fucking heroin, Uryu! Why?" The two friends said, Rukia being the one yelling, Renji only slightly calmer._

_ "Shut the fuck up! You wouldn't understand! Neither of you would!" Uryu yelled back, getting defensive. _

_ "Then explain it to us!" the short girl screamed at him. Uryu shook his head and clenched his fists. _

_ "No! Why should I! I don't have to explain anything to anyone! It's not my fault that I'm hurting so bad that nothing else helps! If you wanna blame someone for what's going on, then blame—!" He stopped, the words he was about to say, that name, got stuck in his throat. No, he couldn't say that name, he couldn't. He'd end up breaking down and letting the secret slip, though he didn't know why he still kept it a secret. Rukia and Renji looked at eachother, confused. _

_ "Who, Uryu? Who made you do this?" Rukia asked, "What could have possibly happened that would have led you to this?" Uryu was on the edge now, he wasn't in his right mind, his eyes shut tight, his fists clenching tighter and he screamed at them, "No! Shut up! Get out of here, now! You wouldn't fucking understand… You wouldn't UNDERSTAND!" He felt them, welling in his eyes, tears, again. _

_ "Just leave me alone… You wouldn't understand any of it…" Uryu hid his face, "Get out now…" Renji took a step towards the other boy, but as soon as his foot hit the floor, Uryu yelled for them to get out again._

_ "No, not until you tell us what did this to you." Rukia said firmly. The bespectacled teen shook his head, "No, you wouldn't get it. I know you won't understand. Just leave me alone." Rukia quickly stepped in front of Uryu, grasping his shirt collar and pulling his face down so she could look in his eyes._

"_Would you quit it with that fuckin' line? I understand more than you think!" She yelled at him. He shook his head, tears threatening to stream down his cheeks._

"_No, I know you wouldn't understand…" He whispered, and the short girl raised her hand, and in the blink of an eye, had slapped him across the face, a small, hand shaped red mark forming on his cheek. His navy eyes were wide with surprise as he shifted his gaze to her. _

"_Let us help you, damn it," The female Kuchiki said softly, "We can help, I know we can. Whatever you're going through, one of us has probably been through it too." Uryu was still in shock from the sudden slap, his eyes shut for a moment and when they reopened, he whispered, "Rukia… I don't need any help… I'm fine how I am…" Rukia's jaw clenched and she shook him._

"_Uryu! You do need help! Don't tell us you're fine, you're not! Let us help you! We're not the only ones who want to help you either. Orihime, Chad, my brother, even Ichigo—" Uryu cut her off when that name slipped past her lips. _

"_Don't say that name!" He almost yelled, bowing his head so his hair hid his eyes, his jaw clenching tightly after. Renji and the young girl looked at him, surprised and then at eachother, confusion replacing the look in their eyes. _

"_Uryu… Did something happen with Ichigo?" Renji inquired as he took a step forward. The pink haired man had a feeling about this, something had happened between them, something that the pale teen didn't want to admit, something that he didn't want to acknowledge. The bespectacled teen turned his gaze away from the two with a quiet "No." The tattooed male looked at the raven haired girl and whispered, "Mind if I talk with him, in private for a minute?" A questioning look graced her features but she hastily let go of the collar of the sapphire-eyed man's shirt and left the room. Renji drew closer to Uryu, and knelt down before the other teen, who was leaning against the couch. _

"_Uryu, what's happened between you and Ichigo? I can tell you two were more than friends. It was especially clear from your reaction. What happened? Did he hurt you?" He thought, '_Sorry for thinking this, but I gotta know, Ichigo,_' "Did he abuse you? Did he force the drugs on you?" The midnight haired teen shook his head, "No, nothing like that." Renji let out a small sigh of relief._

"_Alright. Then, what did happen? Did he cheat on you?" He continued to question the broken male, who shook his head. But then, was completely still, his mind began to race. _

'_Wait… what if… what if that's why he broke it off so suddenly… maybe I wasn't enough for him… Oh god, what if he was cheating on me...' He thought and that was it, the flood gates were slammed open and tears began to flow from his eyes. Renji gasped lightly and placed a hand on the other male's shoulder._

"_What? What's wrong?" He asked, slightly panicked. The pale-skinned teen covered his eyes with his palms, "I don't know. I don't know if he was cheating or not!" He sobbed. Rukia overheard him yelling through his tears and she burst in to the room. _

"_Ichigo wouldn't have done that! I can guarantee you that he wouldn't ever cheat on someone!" She said, her voice raised. Renji shot her an angry glare, but she ignored it and ran over to the two men. _

"_Uryu, I know he wouldn't have cheated on you, he wouldn't be able to even look at you if he did." She said softly, trying to calm him down. Uryu was a mess, but knew he had to stop this meltdown. His eyes shifted to the clock on the wall, 4:49. His father would be home soon, and if he came home to his son bawling like a baby, another man comforting him and a teenage girl trying to calm him down, he'd be unbelievably angry. So the navy-eyed teen dried his tears and said softly to both Rukia and Renji, "You two need to leave… My father will be home soon… He can't know that you were here…" _

"_But we haven't helped at all, we've only made things worse, please, let us fix this." The female Kuchiki said. _

"_No, you have to leave, now. I'm sorry," was his quiet reply. The two friends looked at the teen, his eyes red and slightly puffy, and Renji sighed. _

"_We'll be back later, okay?" The tattooed man said as he placed both hand on Uryu's shoulders. The midnight-haired teen nodded and stood up, using the couch to brace himself, then watched as the two walked away, Rukia looking very small compared to Renji. Uryu leaned against the couch as the door closed and covered his eyes with the palm of his left hand. _

'_What the hell just happened? God, I must seem like such a little kid… Why did I break down like that?' He thought. It was about 5:15 when Ryuuken got home and the pale teen was in his room, laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. His mind was blank; then, a knock on his door snapped him back to reality._

"_What?" He said, not bothering to look at the door. His father's voice was muffled by the door, but he could still clearly hear the man saying, "Are you coming down for dinner?" _

"_In a bit," was his simple reply. He heard the footsteps of his father slowly grow softer and softer. Uryu stayed in his room, staring at the ceiling for another ten minutes, before his stomach growled at him. The midnight-haired teen sighed and rolled off of his bed and headed down stairs. As he approached the table, his father looked up at him from behind his glasses. His eyes were cold and harsh. The bespectacled teen felt as if his father's eyes were burning a hole right through him. _

"_Uryu, I have something I want to talk to you about." The older male said calmly, but it was just covering up the anger in his voice. The teen's sapphire eyes quickly fixed on his dad, "What is it?"_

_He didn't see Rukia or Renji again for a very long time…_

Uryu awoke in the middle of the night. After making sure that Ichigo wouldn't be woken also, he sat up quietly. His hands found his forehead and he then dragged them down his face, rubbing his eyes in the process. The sapphire-eyed man shook his head and sighed. His gaze shifted now to the tan male laying next to him and he whispered, "What am I doing? Where do I even start with them two?" To his surprise, there was a reply.

"Well, I would start with Renji," Ichigo whispered back, his chocolate eyes now focused on the pale, stressed man, who stared back.

"But _where_? They were really the last two I spoke with… except for… _him_… " Uryu sighed. His mind was swimming, but no answers were being produced. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and turned to face the man it belonged to. The orange-haired man smiled softly, and pulled the other male closer.

"Well, just start with the beginning. But before that, you need to get some sleep. It's going to be a long day. But I'll be there with you through it all." His smile widened, still showing kindness. He raised a hand and pulled the midnight-haired man closer, pausing before their lips met to whisper, "I'll stay by your side, no matter what… I promise… Uryu, I still… and always will…" another pause, his voice almost inaudible now, "love you." With that, he gently captured the navy-eyed man's lips. Uryu's heart was beating like a drum. How long it'd been since he'd heard those words spoken to him. How much he'd wished and waited for the day he'd hear them again, but he also feared that day. He was vulnerable again. As soon as those words were thrown into play, his walls came crashing down, leaving him completely exposed. The pale man was brought back to reality when he no longer felt the other's lips on his. Dark blue eyes stared into chocolate eyes with a look that inquired why the kiss had been broken. Ichigo chuckled softly and whispered, "C'mon, you should sleep." With that, he layed back down, dragging Ishida down with him and wrapping his arms around the other man. Uryu's thin fingers groped at Ichigo's shirt and he clung to the fabric. He felt as though he had just been stripped down to nakedness in front of the entire world.

"Ichigo…," He whispered softly, "Ichigo, you'd better… keep that promise…" The pale man's face was buried against the strong chest of the cinnamon-skinned male, who smiled softly and whispered in reply, "forever and always…" He began to feel small spots of wetness form on his shirt as it pressed against his chest and he knew that the fragile man was crying again. Ichigo's arms tightened around the softly weeping male, and it wasn't long before both were fast asleep again.

The morning came quickly and when the first streams of bright morning light danced upon the tan male's eyelids, they fluttered open, revealing his chocolate irises. Ichigo blinked several times before rolling his head to the side and looking at the clock.

"_Hm… 10:42…"_ The tan male thought as he rolled his head back to the other side so he could see Uryu. He ran his fingers through the midnight colored hair and whispered softly, "Uryu, it's time to wake up. C'mon, we've slept late enough." Placing a light kiss on the now exposed pale forehead, Ichigo smiled as Uryu's eyelids slowly opened, and his sapphire eyes quickly found the one who had awoken him.

"Nn… Good morning, Ichigo…" the thin male yawned as he snuggled closer to the man with the orange hair. Ichigo smiled softly and kissed Uryu's cheek.

"C'mon, time to get up." Uryu shook his head, "Uh-uh… I don't wanna…" Ichigo let out a sigh and slowly sat up, picking up the smaller man and placing him in his lap. He lightly traced his fingers down the porcelain-colored chest and whispered "Uryu, c'mon," in the thin man's ear, his breath ghosting over the other's neck, sending a shiver through Uryu's entire body. A buzzing began to ring through the room and Ichigo looked around to find the screen of the other man's phone lit up, a familiar name under the "Incoming Call."

"Hey, it's Chad. Do you want me to answer it?" He asked the still half-asleep male in his lap, who just nodded and yawned before snuggling back up to the warm cinnamon skin.

"Good morning Chad, what's up?"

"Oh, good morning, Ichigo," the strong but soft voice said over the line, "I just wanted to let you and Uryu know that I know where Renji is. My guess is that Rukia's with him, too, seeing as how her brother and Renji are together."

"Woah, so they did get together? Good for them. Can you give us directions to where we could see them?"

"Of course, that's why I called." Uryu was listening to the conversation between his friend and his, well, I guess you could call him his boyfriend again, and soon began to ignore it. He was worried now. He didn't know how to face Renji, let alone Rukia and her brother, too. Nervousness began to cloud his mind and he was lost in it.

"… Ury… Uryu… Hey, Uryu, you alright?" Ichigo asked. He was now off of the phone and was looking at Uryu with concerned eyes. The pale man nodded, "mhm." The orange haired man raised an eyebrow, not believing that the other was alright, but still said, "Alright, C'mon now it's really time to get up. We have places to go today," and got up, pulling Uryu up also. The raven haired man whined, "I don't wanna go…." And went limp so that the stronger had no choice but to hold him up or put him down. Eventually, Ichigo managed to successfully wake up Uryu, who now was muttering something incoherent about how the tan man was a "no good, annoying, jackass," as he got dressed. By the time both men were dressed and ready to leave, it was 11:30 and the weather had taken a bit of a turn for the worse. It had been snowing for most of the morning and was now starting to pick up a slight bit, not making it dangerous to drive, just a little bit more difficult. After wrapping his scarf around his neck and putting his gloves on, Uryu was waiting for Ichigo, who was still putting on his coat.

"If you don't hurry up we'll get there at midnight," Uryu said bitterly. He hated going out on snowy days like this, it made him nervous. Ichigo rolled his eyes and replied "Yeah, enough already okay? I get it," and he stood up ready to leave. The two locked up and were off on their trip. It was too long of a car ride to stay quiet the whole time, seeing as how it was about an hour with clear roads; it was going to be at least another half hour due to the weather. The radio was on for most of the way and Uryu sang quietly along with the songs he liked, while Ichigo did the same for his favorite songs. The two didn't converse much, but halfway there, Uryu dozed off into a light sleep. The rest of the drive went by quickly; ten minutes before getting there, Ichigo woke up the sleeping dark-haired man in the passenger seat. They pulled into the drive way, the snow crunched beneath their feet as they made there way to the door and rang the bell to announce their arrival. If Uryu hadn't been fully awake moments before, he certainly was now. As soon as the door had opened and Rukia saw Uryu and Ichigo standing there… together, all hell broke loose. She screamed and pulled them inside; Renji came running into the entryway and grabbed Uryu, who was stumbling backward as Rukia went off on Ichigo.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!" She roared as her small fists hit the taller man's chest angrily, "YOU SAID YOU'D AT LEAST WRITE TO ME, OR GIVE ME A CALL OR SOMETHING! And what have you done? NOTHING! IS IT REALLY THAT HARD TO PICK UP THE DAMN PHONE ONCE IN A WHILE!" She turned to Uryu now who saw the look on her face and became instantly terrified.

"And you! What's YOUR excuse! We haven't heard from you in two and a half years! I've been worried sick about you!" She continued to yell, advancing towards the thin man, but a strong, pale hand held her back by the shoulder.

"Rukia… Calm down. That's no way to greet guests." Byakuya stood behind her, calm as could be. A sigh of relief could be heard from both Ichigo and Uryu as Byakuya and Renji escorted them and Rukia back into the living room, where the tall black-haired Kuchiki had their guests sit down, Uryu on the sofa, and Ichigo in the arm chair across from the younger Kuchiki and next to her was Renji. Rukia was fuming, if she'd been any more enraged, she would have burst into flames. They could all tell this wouldn't be good. An awkward silence filled the room and it only broke when Byakuya walked in with tea, which he proceeded to pour into the five cups he had also brought in and handed them out to everyone. No sooner had he sat down and taken a sip of his tea did his sister and his lover stand up and start yelling at Ichigo.

"We've got some questions for you, Ichigo! Why did Uryu end up on heroin! What did you do that had made Uryu turn to it! Huh? Why did it take you so damn long to get back with him and sort the whole thing out! Why did you even do it in the first place!" they yelled in unison, not giving him time to answer, he just sat there stammering. They continued on, their rage apparently knowing no end.

"Hey, shut up! I didn't force him to do it! It may have been because of something I did, but I didn't give him the idea to!" Ichigo yelled back. Out of the corner of his eye, Byakuya saw Uryu sinking into the couch, as if trying to blend in to the fabric and disappear. His face was knotted into an embarrassed, uncomfortable look.

"Rukia, Renji," Byakuya glared at them, sending chills down both their spines, "Sit down and be quiet. I don't think Uryu came here to hear all this yelling. You, too, Ichigo, sit down." All three sat without hesitation. Though he was always a very calm man, the look in Byakuya's eyes told them all he was not pleased. He then looked to the raven-haired man sitting next to him and nodded, the anger gone from his eyes. Uryu gulped and quietly said "Thanks." He looked at the two sitting across from Ichigo.

"I'm sorry… for not contacting you in two and a half years. After you guys had come by my house, my father got home and well… Everything went downhill from there… He kicked me out, so I ran. I ran as far as I could," He paused and looked at the small table between them all, "I'm clean now; I have been for a while. I know I have no excuses as to why I didn't at least call you once since then." He continued solemnly.

"I turned to it back then because when Ichigo broke up with me, I had nothing. He was the only one who cared about me; my own father didn't even care half as much as he did. I had nothing after that. I was lost, confused, I didn't know what to do, and the constant pain was too much to deal with…" Rukia's voice came across soft, "That's not true. You had all of us who cared about you. I mean, you made Orihime worry so much, even Chad and I… Renji too, we were all concerned for you." She got up and walked over, perching her self on the arm of the couch.

"You're never alone, Uryu. If you need help or don't know how to deal with something, talk to us. Any of us, we're here." She said in a concerned voice. Uryu nodded and he looked from her to Renji, "Guys, I'm sorry. I didn't know if I could go to you then or if you'd understand… I know now if I want to talk, I can count on you guys." A slight smile pulled at Uryu's lips and he felt a small hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks you guys. I really appreciate you sitting down and hearing me out." He said as he looked at Rukia, then to Renji, who both smiled.

"Would you two like to stay for dinner, it won't be until about 4:30, but on days like this we usually eat an early dinner." Byakuya said, looking at Ichigo and awaiting their answer.

"Sure. We'd love to," the tan man said after looking at Uryu who nodded. The rest of the time till dinner flew by; Uryu helped Byakuya in the kitchen, while Rukia, Ichigo and Renji were in the living room, talking, more like yelling at each other, being obnoxiously loud. By the time dinner was ready, it was already 4:15 and they were all called into the dining room. Dinner held a lot of laughter and funny conversations. It didn't fly by but it felt like it had to Uryu, who by 6:30 was feeling quite tired. Once everything was brought back into the kitchen and washed and put away, Ichigo and Uryu decided it was time they headed out. They said their goodbyes, but when they opened the front door and looked outside, all five of them were awestruck. Three feet of snow had built up over the course of their visit and there was no possible way to get to the car, let alone leave the doorway. Renji laughed and turned to the two guests, "Well, guys, looks like you're hanging here tonight!" and he closed the door.

"I'll go get you two some pajamas," he said as he left the room. Byakuya led them to the spare bedroom.

"Towels are in the closet, and the bathroom is the second door on the left down this hallway," Byakuya continued as Renji walked in with two t-shirts, and two pairs of flannel pajama pants. Placing them on the bed, he turned and said "Uryu, they might be a bit big, sorry, but it's what we got." Uryu nodded and bowed slightly, "Its fine. Thank you both for letting us stay here tonight."

"It's no problem. There's no way you'd be able to get home in this weather. We'd rather have you stay here than try to go home with those conditions. Our room is next door, and Rukia is directly down the hall." Byakuya said, pointing to the door at the very end of the hallway.

"You might want to stay away from her room though; she gets nasty when she's woken up." Renji said in a hushed voice, laughing after. The elder Kuchiki shook his head slightly and then pulled the pink haired man out of the room, "You two get comfortable, if there's anything you'd like to do, just say so," with that, the door closed behind him and the two guests were left alone in the room. Uryu flopped down on the bed; it was soft, and comfortable, he didn't want to move now. He let out a sigh as he closed his eyes and sank in to the bed.

"Uryu, it might help to get changed before you go to sleep. Here, get changed or I'll change your clothes for you, okay?" Ichigo said as he handed a t-shirt and a pair of the flannel pants to the tired raven-haired man, who groaned and reluctantly got up and left the room to go change in the bathroom. While he was gone, the tan man changed into his set, they fit fine for him, but he knew they'd be huge on his boyfriend. Moments later, the thin male walked into the room, the t-shirt nearly hanging off of one of his shoulders, the pants seemed only a little big, but the shirt was huge on him. Ichigo looked him over and came to the conclusion he looked kind of like a child… It was cute. Uryu didn't find it very amusing. He yawned and crawled into the bed, curling up under the covers. He didn't know why he was so tired, he just was.

"I'm gonna go to sleep. Is that alright, Ichigo?" He asked, looking up at the other man with heavily lidded eyes.

"Of course it's alright; I'll be out in the living room with the others for a while. If you need anything, just call me, okay?" Uryu nodded and pulled the covers up to his nose, but Ichigo pulled them back down beneath his chin, quickly placing a small kiss on the other's lips and he whispered, "Good night… I love you," and got up and left the room, closing the door behind him. In moments, Uryu was asleep. It wasn't until about 10:00 that Ichigo finally went back to the room to go to bed, and he found the pale skinned man exactly in the same spot he had been when he left. Ichigo smiled and climbed into bed next to the sleeping man, moving close to him. He was taken by surprise when Uryu's arms quickly wrapped themselves around his torso and pulled him flush with the pale man's body. He smiled softly, and kissed the porcelain forehead before him and soon fell asleep to the silence of the snowy night.

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**So, hope you enjoyed Chapter 4. I'm really grateful to all of you who are reading this! I promise that chapter five won't take 8 and a half months to write!**


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